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Sunday, July 22, 2012

Sunday Stamping: Favorite Stamp

Is it just me or does it seem that every week Sunday comes faster and faster. This week for Sunday Stamping in the group Adventures in Stamping, the challenge was to use a favorite new stamp. To be honest, I don't really have favorites when it comes to a particular stamp. I do have favorite sets that I will reach for vs others when selecting images. It all depends on the mood of the day or an idea. Just in the last month I've gotten the new Mash and Bundle Monster sets as well as the large DashicaBeauty plate, making it really hard to choose a new favorite. They are all excellent quality and I'm still exploring and getting inspired by all the different images :)

For today's manicure I chose the base of Ulta Tutu Cute. It is one of the new shades that I got during their recent sale. Since most of the Ultas I currently own are dark, I had to get some new summery colors. The stamp I chose to use is an image from the DaschicaBeauty plate SdP-O. This flower image has been begging for a manicure ever since I first saw it. I kept rotating the image to get a slightly different design on each nail, but if I wanted a matching set of nails on the other hand, this stamp has a mirror image of it available on the plate. My stamping on all the nails is random and as you can imagine do not mirror each other...

I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Grape Escape. It is one of those blurple colors that looks purple, but photographs blue. Interestingly enough, when I stamped with it, all the purple dissapeared. It really is just blue on the nail as you see here. It looks as though someone took a blue pen and just doodled flower patterns on my nails. I love it. Will have to try stamping this over white. Or maybe a nice henna color over a tan base would look good, but I'm getting side tracked... Also, in true ink fashion, the image smeared when I applied the top coat so zoom in at your own risk ;)

After wearing the manicure as seen above for a day, it started to look kind of flat, so I topped it off with some sparkle in the form of Pure Ice Busted. It is a great purple fleck shimmer that gave it some life and movement. It also muted down the stamp a bit and hid the smudges...

Ulta Tutu Cute is a slightly dusty lavender cream. It is very pigmented, two coats for full coverage. The formula is smooth and easy to work with, although maybe just a touch too thick for my preference. Nothing a few drops of thinner can't handle. It dries slightly darker than bottle color...

I'm new to your blog so I'm unfamiliar with it. I love all of your stamping that I've seen so far. Do you happen to have a stamping tutorial? Or maybe a list of stamping materials to get a newbie started?

I do not have a stamping tutorial, but I would recommend this one on youtube from soguesswhat11: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeF4KMGm0p0&feature=g-user-u

As far as a list of supplies all you need are the stamping plates, a stamper and scraper (old credit card works well). There are a ton of different plates available. Ones I would recommend right now are the Mash set (http://www.mashnails.com/mash-plates-26-50.html) or the Bundle Monster set (http://www.bundlemonster.com/top-sellers/25pc-nail-art-stamping-image-plates-2012-collection.html).

You can also purchase the stamper/scraper on the mash website as well.

Also, depending on where you are, you could find the Salon Express kit in your local stores (RiteAid, CVS, Walgreens, etc). It has everything you need to get started..

About Me

I am a self proclaimed craft nerd. I love all things crafty and will try just about any of it. Favorite hobbies include carving candles, decorating cakes, and making jewelry. In my free time, I love to play with nail polish! Questions/comments? Feel free to contact me at angalek@gmail.com